Happy Star Wars Day!

[manikus]

May the force be with you, always.

[Uatu]

Speaking of Star Wars, I was recently thinking that it is rather weird that light sabers were used mostly like Japanese swords (although movie kung fu influence is strong these days), being that Japanese swords only have one (curved) edge.

Light sabers basically have not one, not two, but all edges, as well as hardly no weight at all, so there would be no need to hold them with two hands; in addition, besides cutting forward (first edge), you could also use them to cut reverse (rear edge), much like a Chinese double-edged sword, but also in the light saber's case, cut sideways, diagonal, etc....

Of course, it would also make things easier for the fearless Jedi knights if the light sabers were longer (just wave the 30-foot-long light saber around the battlefield to maim/slay nearly everyone around you...)

[manikus]

I could think of a time when they would need two-hands - when they're trying to overpower other jedis or sith.

But, you're right, they don't handle them right for being a weightless blade. As for the Japanese influence, Lucas was strongly influenced by the Seven Samurai.

[Uatu]

Yeah, characteristics of the light saber that would influence fighting include:

1. Can cut from any side of the "blade"
2. Weightless
3. Can cut simply by touching (no need to pull the blade, etc.)

My own light saber style would probably consist of simply waving it around really fast in zig-zags...

A Jedi Zorro would be quite easy to accomplish, by the way...

[manikus]

It cuts, but it also burns. In "Attack of the Clones", Dooku burns Kenobi just enough that he can't use his light sabre.

The other aspect to consider is deflecting laser blasts.

[Uatu]

Deflecting laser blasts would of course require extreme fast telepathy and superb spacial and mathematical skills to know ahead of time where to put your light saber in order to deflect the offending laser blasts.

Wow, Dooku must have been 100 times better than Ben when he did that... That's like blowing someone off a roof with a fart...

[manikus]

Is that a Sith ability? Force Fart?

[Uatu]

It is the beginning of the dark side of the dark side...